Stars Like Mine
by syranzra
Summary: In a world where everyone has a birthmark that matches that of their Soulmate, Scorpius Malfoy knows something about Rose Weasley that even she doesn't.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** _So, this story has been in my head for quite a while. I had a large chunk of it written before, but at some point all of my documents on FFN disappeared, and I couldn't find my backup for this anywhere. It took a while to get my motivation back. This was originally going to be a one-shot, but I've decided to make it a multi-chap. I'm going to try to make the chapters a bit shorter than usual, which will hopefully help me make updates more frequent. Anyway - I hope you enjoy!_

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The glass was cold against her forehead, fogged with her every breath. She'd started out counting raindrops, but the sprinkling had long since turned into a storm, and her eyes had long since grown unfocused.

"I'm sorry," came a voice from behind her. It wavered, a rare but not unfamiliar occurrence.

Rose wiped the tears from her eyes. He was crying, she could tell without looking; and if Lorcan was crying, she certainly couldn't be. Not now. Not until he stopped.  
She forced the corners of her mouth to turn upward, and hoped that in the darkness he would believe them. "Don't be," she told him as she turned. "I understand."

"I didn't mean for this to happen." He sounded like he was begging her for something, although _for what_ she wasn't quite sure. It couldn't (or rather, shouldn't) be her forgiveness. He already had that. "It's just that we're... Well, we've decided to... Elspeth, she's-"

"Your Soulmate," she finished for him, standing. "I know." He stepped out of the shadows, and the look on his face broke her heart all over again. It was like she could see the cracks in his eyes. "Oh, Lore..." she sighed, her feet rushing forward before she could bother telling them to. She palmed his cheek, brushed his tears away with her thumb. He closed his eyes and leaned into her touch. "It's not your fault. Your Marks match, it's no secret what that means. I _understand_. I don't blame you-" she shook her head, both hands holding his face now, "-promise. I'm..." She licked her lips and swallowed. _Don't cry. Not now. Not yet. Can't._ "I'm happy for you."

Lorcan's eyes opened, crystal blue and stormy grey, swirling just as dizzily as the rain outside. She wondered if the weather made his eyes more striking, or if it was just her. His gaze made it difficult to breathe, nevermind articulate small comforts. "Rose, I love you," he insisted. She wished he wouldn't. It just made it harder, made her chest feel too small and her stomach clench all that much tighter. "You know I do. And that hasn't changed- won't change. It's just..."

When he paused, she looked down to steel herself and reaffirm the smile she'd plastered on. It softened into something half real when she met his eyes again. "It's just not the same." She brushed her fingers through his satin-soft hair and her eyelids fluttered against her will. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him close; to hide her face, to hide her heart, to force her lungs into doing their _damn_ job. "I know. It's alright, Lore, really. We knew when we started this that it would never last."

Lorcan's hands pressed to her back, rubbed up and down her spine. She hoped he couldn't feel her heartbeat. She'd never been able to count on her pulse for backup. "Please tell me this won't change everything. Please tell me we can stay friends, at least. I'm not ready to- I don't want you to disappear from my life."

"Always," she whispered. At that moment, she didn't trust herself with more than two syllables.

With a long inhale, Lorcan pulled back to press his lips to her forehead. "I love you," he breathed.

"I love you, too," she managed, although she wasn't sure how. Perhaps because it was habit. The words felt as natural to her as breathing; moreso, sometimes. Her hands left his hair to straighten his collar and wipe the remaining tears from his cheeks. With each one that fell in their place, she held her breath. "And I wish you two all the happiness in the world." One corner of her mouth was higher than the other. Evidently out of words, their eyes closed in the same second, and their foreheads pressed together. His thumb brushed over her ribs. He nodded forward, brushing their lips together twice before a shaky exhale that rocked them both. She meant to tell him not to, but couldn't quite muster the willpower needed; _just this once,_ she made herself promise. _I can have this, just this once._

His lips met hers with enough power to empty her lungs of air, her mind of protests, her stomach of twists; but filled her chest with ache right to the brim. He tasted of saltwater and fairy floss, and if she didn't let go now, she wasn't sure she ever could. With one last hug, one last brush against his cheeks, and one last comb through his hair, Rose broke away from her one last kiss with Lorcan, and turned away before he could stop her.

"You'll find your match, Ro," he called out just before she disappeared into the shadows. "I hope it's soon. You deserve that, more than anyone."

It was probably meant to be comforting. It wasn't.

Left empty, cold, and cracked in his absence, Rose ran. She was antique china left out on the table, and those words... those words were an earthquake. Each step she took echoed into the dark, became part of the thunder, shook her broken pieces loose. It was all she could do to find an abandoned classroom to hide away in before she fell apart.

She wasn't going to find her Match, her Soulmate. Lorcan had no way of knowing it, of course, but such a thing would be impossible.

Because Rose Weasley didn't have a Mark.

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The "Old Fanfiction Tropes" Competition II - Soulmate AU  
The 'Convince Me' Challenge - Plot Prompt: Write about something involving a thunderstorm.  
If You Dare Challenge - 98. We're Splitting Up...  
OTP Bootcamp - 16. Thundering


	2. Chapter 2

Scorpius Malfoy turned the letter in his hands, tapping each folded edge against the table in turn. Its contents weren't unexpected, to say the least. Even if he hadn't seen Avery kissing a not-exactly-unfamiliar bloke in the courtyard a week prior, he wouldn't have been surprised. It'd been a slow week for castle gossip, evidently; the new couple was all anyone seemed interested in talking about. This, of course, implied that their engagement was to be broken; which in turn meant that his family would, of course, immediately begin arrangements for a _new_ engagement. According to the letter his father had sent, they'd made a new agreement with the Avery family. Scorpius was now set to marry Elspeth's sister, Gwendoline, who was also in their year. To be honest, he wasn't even sure which of the two was older - they could have been twins and he likely wouldn't have noticed. He was fairly certain they weren't identical, at any rate.

He found the whole predicament oddly tiring.

Wanting for a distraction, his gaze floated about the Great Hall in a half-arsed attempt at searching the crowd. His eyes found Albus easily, as usual. Sometimes he wondered if spending so much of his life within five feet of his best friend gave him some sort of magical Potter-tracking ability.

The dark-haired boy was waving one arm in wide, excited gestures as he spoke, while his other arm rested on the table where Patrick Finnigan-Thomas held his hand. Ricky's robes had been set aside, leaving him in a black vest that showed off his Mark. A small blue bird bounced around Ricky's collarbone, occasionally stretching its wings. Although he knew Albus had a matching bird on his right shoulder blade, it wasn't visible from where Scorpius sat.

The blond frowned slightly. It was only a few months prior that Albus had found out Ricky was his Soulmate, but ever since, the two had been inseparable; which meant that quite often, Albus sat at the Hufflepuff table, which left Scorpius all alone. Normally it didn't bother him (at least, that's what he told himself) but in this moment, he wanted nothing more than some good ol' alone time with his best friend. Frankly, he missed him.

Scorpius forced his eyes to drop, which left them very little to focus on. To avoid the letter, he chose the spot where his sleeve had pulled up to reveal a discoloration in his skin. He'd always thought of it as a blessing, before. Most people had Marks that were obvious; clear shapes and even a bit of shading, like Albus's bird or Lily's arrow. His, on the other hand, was subtle; so subtle, in fact, that he could (and usually did) pass it off as a scar. Quite frankly, it looked like whatever almighty being might have made him had spilt a bit tea during the process and thought 'eh, good enough,' then sent him off to be born. Scorpius himself only knew what it was because it had been there all his life and was just about the only pigment his skin _had_.

This had proven rather convenient for most of his upbringing. Strictly speaking, pureblood families didn't tend to care about Soulmates, Matches, Marks, etcetera. The entire thing was largely ignored in such circles, and otherwise thought of as an unnecessary complication best avoided. Pureblood families like his own made their own matches for their children based on wealth, status, politics, and other such ideals easier to measure and exploit than mere _fate_. Engagements were agreements made between families, allegiances formed and little else. When a pair turned out to be Soulmates, well, all the better. When they didn't, going out and looking for one's Match (instead of accepting your assigned betrothed and acting as though you didn't have a Mark to begin with) was enough to get most people disinherited. Some social leeway was given to kids who found their Match through chance alone, although if their Soulmate wasn't pureblood it was still heavily frowned upon. Merlin forbid if the Match was a muggleborn.

This line of thinking was not helping his mood.

Scorpius stood abruptly, ignored the pointed looks of his housemates, shoved the folded letter into his pocket, and left. He'd just made it to the door when a familiar yet abnormally loud voice caught his attention.

"They're so cute! Isn't it lovely?! The Directory has helped no less than _six_ Matches find their fated someone in just this month _alone!_ " Lily Potter was damn near screaming from the Gryffindor table. Scorpius's eyes quickly found the curling flames that made up Rose Weasley's hair, then slid over to settle on Lily, who was seated beside her. Potter's face was bright, cheeks pink with thrill. Her brown eyes looked like dark, molten caramel, but he couldn't tell if the effect was due to her energy or the lighting. "Isn't that wonderful? _So_ many people, who could have spent their lives miserable and alone without us - I mean, wouldn't that be tragic? Isn't it just the best that we can help them? This has to be among my top three ideas, ever. At _least._ "

How the girl was managing to eat while speaking so many words so very quickly was beyond him. Honestly, if he wasn't watching it himself, he'd never believe it was possible.

"You should put your Mark in the Directory, Rosie! I don't know why you haven't already, really. Now that I think about it, I don't think I even know what yours is! That's weird, innit? I usually remember these things!"

Scorpius realized he'd been staring for a far-from-socially-acceptable amount of time, and turned to leave again. "I'd have to have seen it sometime, but for the life of me I can't remember. Can I see? Wait! Rose!" Lily continued to shout. Scorpius pushed the door open. "Where are you going?! I'm sorry, Rosie-Posie! Just because I forgot doesn't mean I don't love you! You're still my favorite cousin! Come back! Where are you running off to?!"

He'd barely taken a step into the corridor when a familiar mess of red curls barrelled into, through, and past him.

After a slight stagger and a moment of bewildered blinking, he ran after her. She'd disappeared out the door, around a corner, and into a small crowd. If she were anyone else, he'd have lost her three times over; but he could always spot Rose Weasley's hair. It might have helped that the crowd was headed inside to avoid the rain, whilst Weasley shoved through in the opposite direction. She ran, so he sprinted. Rose was surprisingly quick considering his stride was considerably longer. By the time he caught up to her, the crowd had disappeared and they were nearing the Great Lake. Just as he reached to touch her elbow (Merlin knows why he thought _that_ was a good idea, he never had before) Rose spun and shoved at his chest. Scorpius stumbled back a step.

"Bloody hell, stop _following_ me, Malfoy!" Rose sobbed.

Wait. Sobbed?

Grey eyes widened and flicked frantically over her face. "You're crying," he said dumbly. He'd never seen her cry before. Before this moment, he'd been quite certain she wasn't capable of such blatant displays of human emotion. She looked fragile. He wasn't used to it. He hadn't the time to examine why, exactly, but he decided in that moment that he never wanted to see her this way again.

"Thanks, detective. I hadn't noticed," she muttered with approximately one third of her usual venom. Her voice was muffled slightly by her wrist as she wiped the tears from her face. It didn't help. It was raining, anyway.

Before he could stop himself, he pulled her close by her wrist and enveloped her in his arms.

Precisely one second later, he realized what he was doing, and braced himself for a fist in the groin. Instead of hitting him or hexing him, however, Weasley rested her hands on his hips. They stood stiffly for a few more seconds while she slowly slid her arms up and around to hug his waist. Eventually, he felt her sob silently against his shoulder. He rested his cheek on top of her head, rubbing one palm up and down her back. Her hands gripped tight fistfuls of his jumper.

Scorpius had never hugged Rose before, but he'd also never seen her cry before; and he wouldn't stop the former until she stopped the latter.

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 _ **A/N:** First of all, I had to do so much research to find out that what I would call a tank top (USA), these characters would call a vest (UK), so I hope Ricky appreciated his damn shirt. Second: I'm sorry this chapter has so little dialogue! I got a bit carried away with Scorpius's inner monologue. Next chapter will have much more interaction, I promise. :)_

 _Thank you to everyone who reviewed and subscribed! Those notifications have kept me going. This chapter took a while to get up, I know, but the next shouldn't take nearly as long. I got stuck trying to remember what I had written before I lost my old drafts, but finally decided to just toss the thought and move on. I hope you all enjoyed this update!_


	3. Chapter 3

She'd been avoiding him.

She wasn't proud of it, but there it was.

Well, two 'hims,' as long as she was being honest with herself.

As much as she wanted to see Lorcan happy, as much as she wanted to keep him in her life, she simply wasn't ready to be his friend. She couldn't bring herself to look him in the eye knowing it was no longer acceptable to slip her fingers through his hair. She couldn't hug him without having to suppress that urge to lean in for a kiss. She couldn't... well, she simply couldn't.

Especially not with the Memorial Ball looming in their future, growing ever closer by the day. They were supposed to go together, they'd been planning it for months. Their robes had already been fitted, their colors coordinated. It was the 25th anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts, the biggest event to be held in all their years at school; and she was no longer ready for it. Lorcan would be going with Elspeth, for obvious reasons, and she couldn't fault him for it.

Trouble was, this left Rose alone with a baby blue dress and a missing match. It was... lonely. Staring at her dress as it hung beside her bed made her lonely. Putting it on and staring at herself, attempting to tame her curls, made her lonely.

While her dorm mates gossiped about their dates and experimented with hair styles, all she could think about was how her dressing robes matched Lorcan's, but Lorcan's must now match Elspeth's, and Elspeth's Mark matched Lorcan's, and Lorcan's soul matched Elspeth's, and no one's stupid skin would ever light up to match Rose's because her stupid skin was covered head to toe in marks and yet every single freckle or scar on her body had the absolute gall to not be the capital M, extra special soul Mark. She was stuck on how she and her beauty marks would always be singular, never paired for anything more than temporary. Never the one for someone, always the one just there to pass the time.

She was lonely, and she was so done with moping around about it.

Then there was Malfoy.

Now, he wasn't the person she'd least expected to comfort her, but he was definitely low on the list. It wasn't as though they hated each other, exactly; it was more that they were never friends, and she'd always thought that to be a permanent situation, purposely constructed out of mutual distaste.

They'd lived their lives constantly in each other's periphery, continuously crossing over but never quite meeting. They shared classes and friends (namely Albus), but they never spent time alone together. In fact, she was under the impression that they actively avoided it. Sure, they spoke - they shared the same circles and spent quite a lot of time near one another, but it was always in a group setting, and they'd never been overly friendly. More than anything, they bickered and battled until one of them claimed the prize; whether that prize was academic success or Albus's attention, the dynamic was the same. Bitter at worst, playful at best.

When he followed her, she'd assumed it was coincidence at first - that they'd simply been leaving at the same time, heading in similar directions - but as she fled he remained on her tail. She hadn't given it much thought, beyond figuring he wanted to tease her about something; maybe he'd gotten a better grade than her on that potions exam, maybe he thought her face looked especially funny when it was red and blotchy from holding in tears, whatever. She hadn't minded, really, except that she didn't want to let him see her cry. Crying was a private event for her, something that left her too vulnerable for the eyes of anyone less than loved. Malfoy, especially, did not fit that category. When she realized she couldn't hold the tears in any longer, and he wasn't giving up the chase despite her obvious attempts at being alone, she'd been mortified. And yet...

He'd hugged her.

He'd been there for her in a moment of weakness, one she hadn't - couldn't share with the people closest to her. Malfoy, of all people.

What was she supposed to make of that?

It was such a simple thing, and they'd parted ways without verbalizing anything further. He hadn't pressed her to confess her woes, hadn't teased her about her rain-mussed hair, hadn't lingered too long waiting for her to break the silence, hadn't gloated or tried to instigate a fight; and from what she could tell, he hadn't told anyone about it. He'd simply comforted her precisely as much as she'd needed in that moment, walked her back to the castle, and left. He'd kept her private moment just that: private, secret, and without her having to ask him to. He'd asked nothing in return.

It was, quite frankly, infuriating in its perplexity. From what she knew, this was completely uncharacteristic of him. This went against his entire reputation. It flung apart their entire dynamic, and now she had no idea how she was supposed to behave around him.

Were they... friends, now? The concept was too foreign. Was he going to hold this incident over her head for future emotional blackmail? Possible, but she wasn't about to ask him; he hadn't come forth with any demands, and it certainly wouldn't do to go putting such ideas in his head. Should she smile and greet him with a wave, or a handshake, or a hug? Should she glare and tease? Should she act like nothing happened, like that moment changed nothing? Should she simply go about her business as usual, ignoring him until he did something obnoxious enough to warrant her irous attention? Had anything changed? Should anything change?

Was she overthinking this whole thing?

Did Malfoy have an identical twin she somehow never knew about, who had a habit of hugging crying strangers?

Nothing made sense and Rose Weasley was an actual disaster.

So, one could see why - when cornered - she might panic. Rose was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Or, rather, she was in the middle of a corridor with one 'him' headed straight for her, and (as she saw when she spun around to avoid the first 'him') the other 'him' at the other end of the corridor... also headed her way. There were no corners for her to dodge around, no empty classrooms for her to hide in. Besides, she was quite certain they'd both seen her anyway.

She had to choose, and quickly. Her panic was entirely natural, she told herself in retrospect; although the thought brought her little comfort.

Admittedly it wasn't her finest moment, but she chose confusion and potential embarrassment over predictable doses of heartbreak in a split second. Which is how she ended up marching up to Scorpius Malfoy, hooking her arm around his elbow, and pulling him past a tapestry she could have sworn led to an old, haunted History of Magic room...

However, considering: A. the distinct downward slope that knocked off their balance and sent them tumbling, entangled, down some sort of large, spiraling slide; B. the utter lack of desks; and C. the entrance which promptly sealed up upon depositing them onto the cold, stone floor... She'd been wrong.

Rose and Scorpius lay in a stunned heap for a solid twelve seconds before he smirked down at her. "You know, if you wanted to take this somewhere more private, you could have just asked."

Rose rolled her eyes and groaned, taking in their surroundings. "Where even are we?"

Scorpius shrugged one shoulder, raising his eyebrows at her. "You tell me. You're the one who dragged me in here like you were on a mission from Merlin himself."

Her cheeks burned. She avoided his gaze, but it didn't last long - he ducked his head to catch her eye. "You okay, Weasley? What was that all about?"

Try as she might, she couldn't dodge eye contact forever, what with him being maybe three inches from her face whilst the rest of her was a combination of pinned by and tangled up in his chest and limbs. Rose shook her hair out of her face, their foreheads bumping gently in the process. "I could only avoid one-" No, nope. She stopped herself from telling far more than he needed to know with another shake of her head. "I thought that tapestry hid an abandoned classroom."

He blinked, eyebrows slowly rising in the silence.

"Aaaand, you... felt the sudden need to show me some desk graffiti from the 1800s?" he probed. His upper body was getting heavier with every second of this conversation, she was sure of it. Any moment now, her bones would start cracking under the weight of this boy and all his silly questions.

"Precisely," she snipped. "Now are you going to get off of me?"

"If I do, will you tell me the real reason you've just abducted me?"

"I did no such thing!" Scorpius smirked, lips parted to speak again, but she cut him off with, "And probably not, but I'm going to have to insist you do it anyway."

"M'fraid I can't." She scoffed. He willed his smirk to bend into something vaguely resembling a grimace. "Think you broke my spine somewhere around the third bend."

Heaving a groan, she shoved at his hip with the one hand she could actually move. "Malfoy, get up."

"Or what?"

"Or I start biting."

"Oof. Don't threaten me with a good time."

Rose gaped at him for approximately 0.73 seconds, then kicked at his shin with all the momentum she could find.

"Ow!" Yet he had to drop his forehead to her shoulder to hide his smile. Why he even tried, Rose wasn't sure - she could still feel the laughter in his shaking torso. Just when she began to contemplate a better attack, Scorpius threw his weight to the side, and suddenly their positions were reversed.

Surprised into meeting his twinkling eyes, she tilted her head. "What?" he asked, laughter fading. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Trying to figure out what game you're playing, she almost said. Instead, she paused.

He lifted a hand to brush her hair behind one ear. "Even covered in dirt you look a lot better than you did last time."

She began untangling their limbs, pulling her head back from his. "Is that a compliment?"

"I take it you're feeling better?"

Palms pressed to the stone floor, she paused mid-lift. "Do you have a twin?"

"Wow, where did you learn to segue?"

"Have you been replaced by an alien?"

"Really gotta work on your subtlety, there, Weasley."

"You're acting weird."

"You're always weird."

"That's more like it," but barely. Rose shoved herself off the floor and stepped away to examine the room. Before she could get too far, he lifted his hand. She narrowed her eyes.

"What, you can yank me down a suicide slide but you can't help me up?" His usual teasing tone was there, but it wasn't quite the same. Did this mean things had, in fact, changed? If so, how much?

Better to think about it once they found a way out, she decided, and gripped his hand. She barely pulled. He was definitely capable of getting up on his own. She squinted at him again, but he simply winked and then turned from her. She cleared her throat and stepped away.

Running their hands along opposite stone brick walls in search of hidden doors, they settled into a silence like heavy static; both occupied by their own thoughts and questions, neither willing to be the first to risk a spark.

 **AN:** _this took ten million years and I am so sorry. On the plus side, we got some dialogue, and a somewhat lighter tone for the moment. Don't worry, next chapter will pick up right where this one left off, with Scorpius's POV! Thank you so much to everyone who's favorited, followed, and reviewed this story. Every notification brings my heart so much joy and helps motivate me to put this story in my head into shareable words. Apologies for any formatting or typi issues I may have missed, I've been slowly writing and editing this entirely on mobile. Please, stick with me y'all! I have a lot planned, and this story won't leave me alone until it's finished. We're just getting started. ;3_


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